Effect of seamounts on mesopelagic micronekton community structure around Hawaii Lisa De Forest, Jeffrey Drazen, and Réka Domokos Outline • Background information • Study sites • Methods of collection • Preliminary results • Future directions Tuna and seamounts • Tuna have been shown to aggregate over seamounts – Recent increase in fishing pressure over Cross Seamount (Holland et al 1999; Musyl et al 2003) – Residence time at Cross seamount for yellowfin tuna is 15 days and for bigeye tuna it is 32 days (Holland et al 1999) • Could this aggregation be due to increased food at Cross Seamount – Bigeye tuna associated with Cross Seamount were found to have fuller stomachs and ingested a higher diversity of prey (Grubbs et al 2002) • Major food source for tuna are mesopelagic micronekton – Bigeye tuna have been shown to exhibit vertical migrations during the day (Musyl et al 2003) Just what are mesopelagic micronekton • Important food source for tunas, other nektonic predators, and even some seabirds • Active swimmers in the size range of 2-20 cm • Inhabit mesopelagic depths during the day • Many in the mesopelagic undergo diel vertical migration: reside at depth during the day then migrate to shallow depths at night Micronekton and seamounts • Documented higher abundance and diversity over seamounts (Boehlert and Genin 1987; Rogers 1994) • Due to increase in food supply • Due to concentration effect • Change in community composition • Southeast Hancock Seamount reported two seamount associated species, Maurolicus muelleri and Gnathophausia longispina (Wilson and Boehlert 2004) Main Question • Is there a larger and/or different prey source for tuna at Cross Seamount in comparison to nearby open ocean habitats? Acoustics Cross Seamount Open Ocean • Three different types of trawls were conducted to target the Sonic Scattering Layer (SSL) –Day Deep – Night Shallow – Night Deep Study Sites Study Sites Keahole Point (10 x 10 n.mile box centered around 19° 45’ N 156° 15’ W Study Sites Open Ocean Control approximately 19° 38’N, 158° 08’W Study Sites Cross Seamount 18° 40’ N 158° 10’ W Study Sites Finch Seamount 17° 40’ N 157° 40’ W Study Sites • Cross Seamount – Plateau rises to 330 m below sea surface – Flat topped plateau – Surrounded by other seamounts • Finch Seamount – Plateau is roughly 1000 m below sea surface – Pinnacle shaped seamount – Located further distance from other seamounts Study Sites • Cross Seamount – Plateau rises to 330 m below sea surface – Flat topped plateau – Surrounded by other seamounts • Finch Seamount – Plateau is roughly 1000 m below sea surface – Pinnacle shaped seamount – Located further distance from other seamounts Methods • A total of 33 trawls were collected from the four sites on the NOAA research vessel Oscar Elton Sette Spring 2005 • Samples were collected using a dual warp modified Cobb trawl • Mouth opening of ~140 m2 • Graded mesh ranging from 152 mm stretched to 3.2 mm knotless nylon delta mesh • Organisms collected from each trawl were preserved in 10% buffered formalin • In the lab the organisms in each trawl are sorted to the lowest possible taxon Preliminary Results • Total of 15 trawls have been fully sorted. • 4 Keahole Point • 6 Finch Seamount • 3 Cross Seamount • 2 Open Ocean • 131 taxa identified total, 18,000 individuals sorted Cephalopods • 28 species within 10 families • Dominated by Enoploteuthidae • Abraliopsis sp A • Abraliopsis pacifica • Abralia trigonura • Cranchiidae, Ommastrephidae, and Pyroteuthidae Crustaceans • 20 species in 10 families • Dominated by Oplophoridae and Sergestidae • Micronekton sized juveniles Fishes • 79 species in 29 families • Largely dominated by Myctophidae – 31 species –Mostly Ceratoscopelus warmingii and Diaphus schmidti • Stomiiformes and Gonostomatidae Gelatinous • Three main types – Solitary Salps – Colonial Salps – Scyphomedusa Diversity Day Deep Rarefaction Curves 70 60 50 Keahole 40 Finch Cros s 30 Species Open Ocean 20 10 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Number of Individuals Night Shallow Trawl Rarefaction Curve 50 45 40 35 Keahole 30 Finch 25 Species 20 Cross 15 Open Ocean 10 5 0 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 Number of Individuals Future Direction • Lots more trawls from Spring 2005 cruise – Analysis of the diversity, abundance and biomass between trawls and locations – Determination of resident fauna at seamounts • A cruise in February 2007 will result in addition of open ocean control and Cross Seamount samples Other Tuna hotspots • ~30,000 seamounts with heights greater than 1 km (Smith and Jordan 1988) • Aggregation associated with eddies and frontal systems • American Samoa Albacore fishery • 14 trawls collected from February 2006 cruise Acknowledgments •PFRP • Richard Young • Jeffrey Polovina • Michael Seki • Crew of the Oscar Elton Sette • Molly-Jean Martin • Katrina Loewy .